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TH E M R EP O RT
| 19
COVER STORY
enables multi-party communica-
tion and real-time collaboration
will prove to be the industry's
best defense against cybercrime,
and must be adopted sooner
rather than later."
A Shift in the Market
I
n the past, the industry has
experienced several significant
changes in the marketplace that
will require more attention from
lenders in 2018.
Ray Brousseau, President of
Carrington Mortgage Services,
LLC, said that the days of simple
"rate-and-term" refinancing are
largely a thing of the past. Interest
rates have dropped as much
as possible, and there is a shift
from refinancing to consumers
taking advantage of the increased
appreciation in their homes and
cashing out.
"Second, we've experienced a
very slow shift in the willing-
ness of lenders to help distressed
or borrowers with credit chal-
lenges," said Brousseau. "The
overall market has been slow to
respond to them and demonstrate
its willingness to work with this
underserved market."
Dan Hoppes, SVP at Assurant
Mortgage Solutions, said market
valuations have shifted dramati-
cally in the past five years.
"Coming out of the mortgage
crisis, there was a high degree of
regulatory focus on all parties,
including appraisers and appraisal
management companies (AMCs),"
Hoppes said. "Add the changes
to closing a loan with regards to
TRID, and the industry had a lot
of change to digest in a very short
time period."
There is still a high focus on
the regulatory environment, but
now that everyone is gaining a
comfort level with most of the
increased requirements fostered by
Dodd-Frank, the focus is moving
toward innovation and efficiency.
Not everyone agrees with the
comfortability of the increased
requirements. Anderson said
he is hopeful that he will see
a bit of moratorium slowdown
in the number of major regula-
tions to provide the industry
some breathing room. Major
regulations include: Qualified
Mortgage (QM), TILA-RESPA
Integrated Disclosure (TRID),
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
(HMDA), and Uniform Closing
Dataset (UCD).
Additionally,
Matt Woolley,
SVP of Sales with LoanLogics,
zeroed in on one aspect of the
mortgage industry he would
gladly leave behind in 2018.
"In a word, overregulation,"
Woolley said. "Under the current
administration, we look forward
to the elimination of burdensome
lending regulations that added
costs to loan production, yet did
not provide consumers and inves
-
tors with any concrete benefits."
Forecasts for 2018 also include
looking forward to more of a pur-
chase home loan market versus
the heavy percentage of refinances
experienced over the past several
years.
"Although many companies
continue to survive on these
refinances, a successful housing
and mortgage market cannot be
sustained by an overabundance of
refinances," said Woolley. "Refis
artificially bolster the economy
with a short-term boost from the
extra cash homeowners realize
after refinancing."
Will Fisher, SVP, National
Sales and Marketing Director of
Citadel, said the market will expe-
rience a "sea of change" in the
type of borrower that is available
to purchase or refinance.
"This will be due to two fac-
tors: the first, increased inter-
est rates," Fisher said. "Second,
government intervention, with
potential changes to the tax code
and housing regulation."
However, a sustainable and
successful housing market and
economy are based on a strong
home-purchase market—and
Woolley believes the industry
should start to see a stronger pur
-
chase market in 2018 and beyond.
Tom Hutchens, SVP at Angel
Oak Mortgage Solutions, antici-
pates 2018 to shed light on win-
ners and losers emerging from
the refinance cliff.
"We have already seen refi-
nance volume dry up as rates rose
throughout 2017," Hutchens said.
"Lenders who prepared by adding
additional purchase products have
been successful in attracting new
customer bases. However, those
who did not diversify their prod-
uct offerings will face challenges in
2018 and beyond."
The expected rise in interest rates
may reduce refinancing ap plications
and also drive competi tion in the
market, potentially resulting in
decreased margins for lenders.
Seth Kronemeyer, Vertical
Marketing Leader, Equifax
Mortgage & Housing, says prepa-
ration is paramount. "Mortgage
lenders should develop their
DE-
REGULATION
ON
THE
HORIZON
"Among the biggest market
challenges in 2018, housing
professionals will have to address
building new lending products to
reflect changing borrower needs. We
see hints of this already with work
being done on improved reverse
mortgage products and introduction
of new equity products."
— Joe Dombrowski, Director, Product Management, Fiserv